Why does a child cry or scream in his sleep?

When their child cries or screams while they sleep, parents may become concerned. Unbeknownst to many, these disturbances during the night are more frequent and can occur at various stages of childhood. Parents who are aware of the causes of this behavior can react to their children with patience and care.

Youngsters may scream or cry while they sleep for a variety of reasons, from straightforward nightmares to more complicated emotional or medical problems. The parents may become even more perplexed if the child doesn’t even wake up completely. Understanding what might be causing this can give comfort and direction on how to deal with these circumstances.

These phases are typically a natural part of growing up and can be overcome with patience and help. Nonetheless, it’s critical to pay attention to the patterns and develop the ability to console a child when necessary without unduly disturbing their sleep.

Specifics of infant sleep

Children under one year old are the ones who cry in their sleep the most frequently, and if older children exhibit a similar issue, they are frequently able to verbally explain why it is happening. For this reason, we will focus on infants instead of preschoolers.

It is important to clarify right away that there is nothing strange or harmful happening if a child under a year old shivers, groans, jerks his legs, arches, or even sobs while they sleep.

As an adult, babies also typically experience this phase of sleep known as "REM sleep," but only during the instant of falling asleep and right before a gradual awakening.

The child’s brain develops quickly, and as a result, the nervous system hardly ever rests, which is why this differs from the adult norm. Since dreams occur during this stage of sleep, it is not unexpected for parents to witness a visible response to what is taking place in the form of:

• "Running" pupils with closed eyes;
• Active movements of the limbs;
• A triggered sucking reflex;
• Grimacies;
• Various sounds, including crying.

These occurrences are known as "physiological night crying," and medical professionals say they don’t point to the presence of any irritants.

Sometimes, the source of the irritation is actually a dream in which the infant is placed in an uncomfortable or frightening environment; even an older child will talk, scream, or cry in such a scenario. Generally speaking, crying is a normal way for people to let go of emotional tension, so if the baby is crying while they sleep and he wakes up soon after, there’s no need to worry.

Psychologists also think that children use physiological crying as an instinctive way to assess their environment, such as whether their mother is prepared to intervene if something goes wrong. You can ensure that the baby stays asleep by rocking him at a time when he hasn’t had a chance to wake up.

Experts advise against overly aggressively calming the infant because, in this case, rocking him gently or even just softly singing to him will be sufficient to reassure him that everything is well and he will go back to sleep. The baby is not likely to wake up just yet, so aggressive rocking can easily wake him up.

The baby awakens and starts to scream much louder to get adults’ attention if he sees no response, which causes his brain to signal insecurity.

Such a reflexive "scanning" of space should cease by the end of the first year of life.

Too many emotions

During the initial months of life, an infant’s psychological development is still immature, which results in intense emotional reactions to external stimuli. In fact, the infant only reacts to discomfort. But between three and four months of age, there is a significant emotional change that marks the beginning of the personality’s psychological development.

Adults may not see it this way, but the child is actively perceiving and trying to remember or comprehend the world around him at this age. Even positive emotions accumulated over the course of the day prevent a child from falling asleep quickly and instead cause him to become excited, which results in poor sleep quality and even occasional crying.

At this point, parents should lessen their strict adherence to a schedule and instead concentrate more on their children’s immediate needs. In light of this, the duration of the child’s subsequent wakefulness should be reduced if they had a restless night. If this isn’t done, the child will experience stress from sleep deprivation again, which will fuel more sleep deprivation and create a vicious cycle.

Adhere to a few basic guidelines to avoid emotional factors disrupting the child’s sleep and causing him to cry while they’re asleep:

• It is unacceptable to take away part of the time allotted for sleep from the baby for lulling. In order to ensure that he falls asleep on time, start putting him to bed in advance. Do not wait for the moment when the child begins to clearly demonstrate signs of fatigue – this is already an indicator of excessive fatigue.
• Vivid emotions, even positive ones, are not recommended at all for babies under one year old. This statement is especially relevant in the afternoon, otherwise you can lose too much time to lull.
• Television is very harmful for small children precisely because of the large number of emotions. Even calm cartoons provide a lot of different information, cheer up with a large number of bright colors, and in general for a baby they do not seem as simple and accessible as for an adult, therefore they can cause poor sleep and crying at night.

It has not been demonstrated that nightmares occur in infants younger than one year of age. Children may cry because of them when they get older, but this is typically an isolated incident rather than a recurrent occurrence. It makes sense to get in touch with a licensed psychologist if a child reports experiencing frightening dreams with a recurrent storyline on a regularly basis.

Inappropriate microclimate

Babies are generally much more demanding of the conditions in the room, which is not surprising given that, as we have already mentioned, they sleep much lighter than adults. A child up to a year old has limited control over the environment; he cannot independently hide in the winter or remain outside in the summer. This makes the situation even worse. The child may not wake up, but he may experience discomfort and weep during the night, which can deteriorate the quality of his sleep and cause him to wake up completely.

Parents should take great care to make the nursery genuinely comfortable and provide ongoing support in order to prevent such situations. The following describes the baby’s ideal level of comfort:

• Temperature – about 18-22 degrees. Here everything depends on both the individual qualities of the baby and the number and thickness of the diapers in which he is wrapped. The argument "steam does not break bones" does not work here at all! If the baby is uncomfortable falling asleep, he will cry in his sleep regularly.
• Humidity – within 40-60%. Too dry air makes the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract dry out and evaporates too much fluid from the baby’s body, but we want it to sleep tightly, especially since he cannot and will cry on his own. In our latitudes, the air is usually overdried, and this problem can be solved with the help of a humidifier. Too humid air is not typical for our country.
• Absence of dust. Getting into the baby"s nose, dust clogs the respiratory tract and interferes with the normal enrichment of the body with oxygen, although the child"s brain, actively developing even in sleep, desperately needs it. Since the blockage occurs gradually, dust is one of the most common causes of crying in sleep without waking up. To eliminate dust, ventilate the room and carry out regular wet cleaning, and also minimize the number of books, carpets, upholstered furniture and toys in the nursery.
• Fresh air. A growing body needs oxygen critically, so ventilation is almost a must before bedtime. If, due to the features of climate or allergies to pollen, this is unacceptable, pay attention to complex modern air conditioning systems that can solve this problem.

How to solve the problem of hunger and thirst?

Although a person of any age may want to drink at night, babies have a much greater need for food than adults do, so it is common for them to feel the need to eat in the middle of the night to the point of crying. However, you must find strategies to lessen the frequency of these awakenings because the child will need to be put back to sleep after each one, which prevents the mother and the child from getting enough sleep.

It won’t be possible to totally avoid night feedings in the first few months of life; you will still need to wake up. However, by feeding your baby more frequently during the day, you can lessen the amount of worries you have at night. If eating before bed is not advised for adults, then doing so is not only feasible but beneficial for babies as well, as it will guarantee consistent sleep patterns.

Since a child this age does not consume anything that is difficult to digest, you should eat tightly in the evening. We have already discussed how inadequate sleep can result in persistent nighttime crying.

Experts advise boosting the baby’s nutrition at the same time by emphasizing quality over quantity, whether it be through meal frequency or actual weight of food consumed at one sitting. It’s obvious what to do with kids who are fed baby food—you just need to focus on eating more foods high in calories.

Regarding infants breastfed by their mothers, there is a crucial detail that not everyone is aware of: a child’s "foremilk" is released first when they are placed to the breast. Although a baby doesn’t require much in terms of volume—he feels satisfied and won’t take any more—it has a relatively low nutritional value, and the nutrients from the foremilk don’t stay long. The baby then cries in a dream because it appears full and wants to eat quickly again.

If the infant is obviously only consuming a small amount of milk at a time, it should first be saved up so that it only gets the highest-calorie option.

Breastfeeding should only occur in warm weather; if the infant is being fed artificially, water must be provided at every feeding.

Teeth

Teething is a common phenomenon that affects all babies, and is frequently the cause of nighttime crying. These babies are particularly challenging because they experience constant mouth pain and itching.

The child can be soothed, of course, because he still needs to sleep in this kind of environment. However, if the pain gets worse, he may cry out and wake up with a sharp cry. In particular, if the infant is currently missing multiple teeth at once, the issue is made worse.

While there could be a number of causes for a child to cry at night, teething is definitely one if the child is gnawing on toys, clothes, or anything else that is in reach.

This issue was long thought to be practically unsolvable, but contemporary medicine has already provided a solution in the form of a unique painkilling gel. Remember that this medication, like practically all other medications, should only be used in small children after consulting a physician.

Special silicone teethers can help "scratch" a child’s irritated jaw, which lessens the discomfort of the situation and enables you to shield other objects from attempts by the child to gnaw on them, which can be dangerous.

Reason	Explanation
Nightmares	Children may have scary dreams that cause them to cry or scream in their sleep.
Overtiredness	If a child is overly tired, they might have trouble sleeping peacefully and cry during sleep.
Hunger	Sometimes a child may wake up hungry and express discomfort by crying.
Separation Anxiety	Some children feel anxious when separated from their parents, even in their sleep.
Physical Discomfort	Wet diapers, temperature changes, or illness can cause discomfort and lead to crying.

Children often cry or scream while they sleep, and this is usually not cause for concern. Night terrors, nightmares, or even simple adjustments to their schedule may be the source of this behavior. Parents can feel more at ease if they know what could be causing these episodes to occur at night.

Try creating a cozy bedtime routine and making sure the child feels safe and secure before bed to assist them in getting through this. Remember that most kids eventually grow out of these stages, so have patience.

To rule out any underlying issues, it may be worthwhile to see a pediatrician if the crying continues or gets worse. Although each child is unique and needs different things, comfort and patience can often go a long way.

For a variety of reasons, including nightmares, night terrors, or discomfort from being too hot or cold, a child may cry or scream while they sleep. Little children frequently experience this as their sleep patterns are still forming and they process new experiences. Both the child and the parents can have more restful nights by reducing their distress and creating a calm, soothing environment by being aware of these triggers.

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